Method and Apparatus for Using Foam Panels As Forms For Making Concrete Walls

ABSTRACT

A foam panel concrete form is provided for using concrete reinforcement rods which extend on each side of a joint in the foam panel concrete form and into complementary shaped openings in ties which hold two adjacent panels in a spaced and parallel relationship. The concrete reinforcement rod can pass into the openings in adjacent ties with little resistance in a first rotary position of the concrete reinforcement rod. When the concrete reinforcement rod is rotated to a second rotational position within the openings the reinforcement rod is in a tight frictional fit in the openings for helping to hold adjacent ties and the adjacent foam panels in a fixed relationship with respect to each other during a time when concrete is poured between the foam panels, thereby also serving to re-enforce the concrete after the concrete has cured.

FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY

The present invention relates generally to ties for concrete wallforming systems of a type using foam panels; and more particularly to aspecial tie utilized to secure adjacent panel sections together.

BACKGROUND

While wall forming systems have been in use for many years, the last twodecades has seen considerable development in this industry in the use ofexpanded polystyrene panels as forms for poured concrete walls. Afterthe concrete has hardened, the panels may be left in place on the wallsto serve as permanent insulation, or they may be stripped off to revealthe exposed concrete.

Upon introduction of this new wall forming system, it was found that itwas unnecessary to use small “building blocks” to create the form panelsto build a form system for receiving poured concrete. Rather, larger andlarger panels are now being utilized to create the concrete forms.Developments in this field include U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,765,109 and4,916,879 to Boeshart, which show how to make right angle corners and“T” intersections, which patents are incorporated herein by reference intheir entirety.

Adjacent sections of foam panels have pre-formed mating tongue andgroove connections that hold them together on the main portions of thefoam panel sections. But sometimes these tongue and groove portions needto be trimmed off to make a foam panel form that is shorter than thelength of a standard foam panel length. When this occurs it is necessaryto find another way to hold adjacent foam panels together during thetime that the concrete is being poured and cured. Solving this problemin the industry has been difficult and labor intensive, with manyproposed solutions being not sufficiently reliable. Accordingly thereremains a need for solving this difficult problem.

SUMMARY

The present invention relates to a foam panel concrete form usingconcrete reinforcement rods which extend on each side of a joint in thefoam panel concrete form and into complementary shaped openings in tieswhich hold two adjacent panels in a spaced and parallel relationship.The concrete reinforcement rod can slide into the openings in adjacentties with little resistance in a first rotary position of the concretereinforcement rod. When the concrete reinforcement rod is rotated to asecond rotational position within the openings, the reinforcement rod isin a tight frictional fit in the openings for helping to hold adjacentties and the adjacent foam panels in a fixed relationship with respectto each other during a time when concrete is poured between the foampanels, thereby also serving to re-enforce the concrete after theconcrete has cured.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention providing a concrete form constructed of foam panels;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment of FIG. 1 ofthe present invention showing ties formed in the foam panels to holdadjacent foam panels in a spaced parallel relationship and concretereinforcement rods placed on and in the ties to hold the form sectionstogether and to reinforce the concrete after it has cured, with somereinforcement rods being shown in dashed lines to indicate where theycan be placed;

FIG. 3 is a top view of the structure shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a side view of that portion of a tie in FIG. 3 that is exposedbetween the two foam panels;

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of the foam panel structure shown inFIG. 4, but showing the foam panels in dashed lines and the ties insolid lines;

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of one of the corner tie structuresshown in the lower right portion of FIG. 7;

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of one of the corner structures of the presentinvention;

FIG. 8 is a side elevational view of one of the sections of a tie usedin the lower left and upper right portion of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing how a fastener is used to connectthe structure of FIG. 8 to the structure of FIGS. 10 and 11;

FIG. 10 is a side elevational view of one of the sections of a tie usedin the lower left and upper right portion of FIG. 7;

FIG. 11 is a side elevational view of one of the sections of a tie usedin the lower left and upper right portion of FIG. 7, this section justbeing longer than the one shown in FIG. 10, but otherwise identical;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment of FIG. 1 ofthe present invention showing ties formed in the foam panels to holdadjacent foam panels in a spaced parallel relationship and concretereinforcement rods placed on and one tie only being illustrated to holdthe form sections together and to reinforce the concrete after it hascured, it being understood that other reinforcement rods would be placedin the other aligned holes shown that are of a similar shape;

FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing how a reinforcement rod is inposition to be inserted into an opening in one of the ties;

FIG. 14 is a perspective view like FIG. 13 but showing how areinforcement rod has been inserted into an opening in one of the tiesin the direction of an arrow;

FIG. 15 is a perspective view like FIG. 14 but showing how areinforcement rod has been rotated in the direction of an arrow in theopening in one of the ties to frictionally lock the reinforcement rodagainst the sliding movement along the line of the arrow in FIG. 14;

FIG. 16 is a perspective view of adjoining foam panels showing thetongue and groove relationship used to lock adjacent panels together bymoving them relatively up or down as shown by the arrow in FIG. 16;

FIG. 17 is a perspective view of abutting foam panel forms wherein thetongue and groove portions are not present, for example because one ofthe forms needs to be shorter than a standard length of form, and alsoshowing the use of a glue gun to seal the abutting edges together aswell as reinforcement rods which are installed after the abutting edgesare glued together;

FIG. 18 is a top view of a T-joint of the present invention where oneconcrete wall to be formed will join with another concrete wall;

FIG. 19 is a perspective view of a top portion of the structure of FIG.18;

FIG. 20 is a top view of a corner section of the present invention whereone concrete wall to be formed will join with another concrete wall;

FIG. 21 is a perspective view of the corner section of FIG. 20, portionsof which are also shown in FIGS. 6-11;

FIG. 22 is a perspective view showing how the ties can be held togetherfor shipping purposes in a very compact fashion;

FIG. 23 is a perspective view of a foam panel concrete form which hasbeen pre-assembled and showing in dashed lines places where“jack-o-lantern” type holes can be cut the foam wall to insertreinforcement rods there through;

FIG. 24 is a perspective view of a foam panel showing “jack-o-lanternlid” shaped holes being cut in the foam wall to insert reinforcementrods there through; and

FIG. 25 is a perspective view of a foam panel showing how a piece of“jack-o-lantern lid” shaped piece of foam is reinserted in the one ofthe holes after the insert reinforcement rods have been installed, andshowing how the a piece of “jack-o-lantern lid” shaped piece of foam ispinned with nails or the like to hold it in place while concrete isbeing poured into the form.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring now to the drawings wherein like reference numerals designateidentical or corresponding parts throughout the several views, FIG. 1shows a perspective view of a preferred embodiment 10 of the presentinvention. Foam panels 22 have a tongue portion 22 t on one edge and agroove portion 22 g on the other edge thereof for mating with oneanother. The top of each panel 22 has a projection portion 22 p. FIG. 12shows the bottom of the structure of FIG. 2 and shows recessed portion22 r of panels 22 and FIG. 16 shows how the tongue portion 22 t fitsinto the groove portion 22 g of adjacent panels 22.

FIG. 5 is an end view for example, from the front of FIG. 2, but showingthe foam panels 22 in dashed lines and ties 11 in solid lines. Theseties 11 are made of a solid plastic material which are preferably madeof the same material as the ties in the two patents referred to abovewhich are incorporated herein by reference. Each side of the tie 11 hasa portion 12 which is molded inside of the panel 22, but of course couldbe the type that slips down into a groove in panels 22 if desired.Portions 13 have an opening 16 thereof which can be seen in greaterdetail in FIGS. 13-15, which will be discussed later. A portion 14 ofthe tie 11 extends between the portions 13 and has a plurality ofextension tabs 14 t thereon to allow an ultimate user to put areinforcement rod 21 between adjacent tabs 14 t, for example as shown inthe right-most reinforcement rod 21 shown in solid lines in FIG. 2. Thisallows the concrete to be formed between the foam walls 22 and when itcures the reinforcement rod 21 will be in a proper position to hold theconcrete even if it cracks.

Hinge portions 19 allow the concrete forms to pivot to a positionwherein the portions 14 and 13 of the tie will be more or less parallelto the interior walls of the foam panels 22. When the form is desired tobe used on the job site, it can be folded out to the position shown inFIGS. 2, 3 and 12, for example.

Referring now to FIG. 7, it is noted that a corner portion is shown. Inthis top view, portions 112 of the corner structure are virtuallyidentical to the portions 12 of the ties 11 of FIG. 5. Essentially, thecenter section 14, including tabs 14 t, have been cut off to make thestructure shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. Additionally, a fastener 121 is usedand is shown in detail in FIG. 9. This fastener 121 has tabs 121 t and121 b thereon which fit into the opening 116 and through the top part116 t of opening 116 and through the bottom 116 b of opening 116. Oncethe portion 121 a, 121 b and 121 c extend through portions 113, then thehandle portion 121 h of the fastener 121 is turned so that the tabs 121b and 121 t are not aligned with the portion of the opening 116 b and116 t to thereby lock the portions 113 together as shown in FIG. 7. FIG.6 also shows the structure at the lower right portion of FIG. 7 beforeit has been bent into the position shown in FIG. 7.

The other braced portion in the corner of FIG. 7 uses portions 112, 113,hinge 119, etc., similar to that shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, but instead oflocking the portions 113 together, a “bow tie” shaped portion 211 isused as shown in FIGS. 10 and 7. This bow tie 211 has openings 216therein with a top portion 216 t and a bottom portion 216 b so that thefastener 121 shown in FIG. 9 can be used in the same way to first extendit through opening 116 of the tabs 113 and also through the openings 216in bow tie 211 to secure the bow tie 211 in place as shown in FIG. 7.FIG. 11 merely shows a longer bow tie 311 with end sections 313 andopenings 316.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 12 which show the top and bottom,respectively, of a form comprised of two foam panels 22 being held inspaced relationship by a plurality of ties 11 which are formed thereinand extend between the two forms 22, it is important to note thatsometimes these forms 10 need to be trimmed to be shorter than thestandard length because the concrete wall needs to be shorter than amultiple of the length of such standard forms 10. When this occurs, thetongue portion 22 t and groove portion 22 g, for example as shown inFIGS. 12 and 16, are trimmed off so that they are like shown in FIG. 17.A glue gun with hot glue is applied to these planar edges as shown inFIG. 17 and the adjacent flat edges of foam panels 22 are glued togetheras indicated by the arrow shown in FIG. 17. Once that has been done,there needs to be something more than merely glue to hold this jointwhen concrete is introduced. Simply stated, the glue is not alwayssufficient to prevent the joint from coming apart when the heavyconcrete and the pressure exerted on the walls 22 occurs due to thepouring of the concrete. Consequently, once the adhesive or glued jointis formed, then the reinforcement rod 21 is inserted in the step-by-stepfashion shown in FIGS. 13-15.

Looking at FIG. 13 for example, the reinforcement rod 21 in theorientation shown, can be slid through the opening 16 in the directionof the arrow. It is noted that when this is done, the top portion 21 tof the reinforcement rod 21 extends through the top portion 16 t of theopening 16 in portion 13 of the tie 11. Similarly, the lower portion 21b of the reinforcement rod 21 extends through the lower portion 16 b ofthe opening 16. It will be appreciated that the rod can easily pass intoand through the opening 16 in this fashion as shown sequentially fromFIG. 13 to FIG. 14 in the direction of the arrow. After thereinforcement rod 21 has been passed through all of the openings at thejoint shown in FIG. 17 with the joint glued together, then thereinforcement rod 21 is rotated 90° as shown in FIG. 15. This wouldtypically be done by grasping the reinforcement rod 21 with pliers or avice grip type of tool because there is a considerable amount offriction involved in rotating the tie 21. Once the tie 21 is so rotatedto the position shown in FIG. 15, this will hold the joint 17 togetherwhere it has been glued. In fact, it may not be necessary to apply theadhesive between the joint. For each of the openings 16 in the ties, forexample as shown in FIGS. 2, 12 and 17, a tie 21 will be inserted in themanner shown sequentially in FIGS. 13-15. While it may not be necessarythat every one of these openings 16 has a tie 21 therein, the more tiesthat are installed, the stronger the joint will be.

Referring now to FIGS. 18 and 19, a form is shown in a configuration topour one wall which is perpendicular to and joined with another wall. Abracing structure comprised of inner-connected elements 401, 402, 403,404, 405, 406, 407, 408, 409, 410 and 411 hold one course or level offoam of concrete foam walls 22 together so that additional courses ofsuch elements can be placed above those that are shown in FIGS. 18 and19 to form a taller concrete form. Of course this can be done as manytimes as necessary to form a concrete form as tall as desired.

More importantly to the invention at hand, it is noted that the ties 11are in place so that a reinforcement rod 21 can be utilized to furtherhold the joint of the form together by extending the tie 21 throughopenings 16 sequentially as shown in FIGS. 13-15. It is also noted thatFIGS. 18 and 19 show an additional tie 21 which extends between twoadjacent tabs 14 t and 90° to the reinforcement rod 21 which haspreviously been installed as noted above. This additional reinforcementrod 21 will further hold the concrete joint together after the concretehas cured. More reinforcement rods 21 can be used between the tabs 14 t,and of course, none of these reinforcement rods actually need to be bentdown on the end like the ones shown in FIG. 19.

Referring now to FIGS. 20 and 21, it is noted that a corner section likeFIG. 7 is shown with a structure 600 thereon which is similar to thedevices shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,765,109 and 4,916,879 to Boeshart,which show how to make right angle corners and which patents areincorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Portions 601 and 602slip over the extreme outside of the corner and are connected togetherby braces 603, 604 and 605. Brace 603 extends to member 606 and 607 viamembers 608 and 609.

Member 610 is attached at one end to member 603 and at the other end tomember 611. Member 612 connects members 610 and 613 together. Similarly,member 620 is attached at one end to member 603 and at the other end tomember 621. Member 622 connects members 620 and 623 together.

Member 630 is attached at one end to member 631 and at the other end tomember 635. Member 632 connects members 631 and 633 together. And on theother side, similarly, Member 630 is attached at one end to member 631and at the other end to member 645. Member 642 connects members 641 and643 together. Member 646 connects member 641 to member 603 and member647 connects member 631 to member 603. This structure 600 allows for onecourse of foam panels 22 to be held in place at a corner and furtherallows an additional course to be added to the top of the structure 600shown in FIGS. 20 and 21, and held in place by overlapping members 601,602, 606, 607, 612, 613, 621, 623, 631, 633, 641 and 643.

Referring now to FIG. 22, it is noted that a wooden dowel 421 can beutilized to extend through a plurality of ties 11 for the purpose ofholding them together for shipping purposes. This dowel 421 isessentially the same or slightly less of a diameter as the opening 16. Ahard rubber locking block 450 is frictionally held on the end of thedowel 421 for holding the end of the dowel 421. A hole in the rubberlocking block 450 has a diameter than is slightly smaller than thediameter of the dowel, so that rubber locking block 450 can be pushedonto the end of the dowel 421 in the FIG. 22 configuration to hold allof the ties 11 together for shipping purposes.

Referring now to FIGS. 23-25, it is noted that forms 500 and 501 areessentially identical except that it is necessary, due to thespecifications of the wall that the form 501 be shorter in length thanthe form 500. When this is necessary, it needs to be trimmed off, forexample as shown in FIG. 17 on the abutting edges at the joint 502. InFIG. 17, as the courses are added one on top of another, it is very easyto reach over the top and insert the reinforcement rods 21 into theopening 16 sequentially as shown in FIGS. 13-15. When the concrete formmade of foam 500 and 501 are already formed having several courses high,then it becomes necessary to insert the reinforcement rod 21 in adifferent fashion. One such desired way to insert these rods is to cutan opening 503 as shown in dashed lines in FIG. 23. This is done in themanner shown in FIG. 24 and it is cut with a saw 504, for example in themanner that someone would cut a top out of a pumpkin when making ajack-o-lantern so that the inside of the opening 503 i is larger thanthe portion of the opening 503 o outside. By cutting the opening in thisfashion, the plug 505 will be wedged back into the opening 503 when theconcrete is poured and this will prevent it from popping out of theopening 503 if the hole 503 had straight walls instead of tapered walls.

Once the opening 503 has been cut and the plug 505 pushed inside thewall, a person would reach through the opening 503 and insert a concretereinforcement rod 21 through the openings 16 in the exact same manner asshown sequentially in FIGS. 13-15. It can be seen that this can be doneat different levels as shown in FIG. 23. After the concretereinforcement rod 21 has been installed, then the plug 505 is pulledback and reinserted into the opening 503 and nails 506 are used to holdthe plug 505 in place. Of course when the concrete is poured between thewalls of forms 500 and 501, the force of the poured plastic or liquidconcrete pushes outwardly on the foam walls of the forms 500 and 501.The plug 505 will be wedged against the inside of the opening 503 andwill remain in place in the position shown in FIG. 25.

Obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention arepossible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to beunderstood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the inventionmay be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

1. Apparatus comprising: a concrete reinforcement rod having alongitudinal axis and having a cross sectional shape transverse to thelongitudinal axis, which cross sectional shape includes at least onediameter thereof which is larger than another diameter thereof; a firstfoam panel having at least one side disposed substantially in a firstplane; a second foam panel having at least one side disposedsubstantially in a second plane which is substantially parallel to thefirst plane; a first tie having one portion thereof disposed in thefirst foam panel and a second portion thereof disposed in the secondfoam panel; a first opening disposed in the first tie, said firstopening being approximately the same cross sectional shape as the crosssectional shape of the concrete reinforcement rod whereby the rod canpass into the first opening with little resistance in a first rotaryposition of the concrete reinforcement rod; a third foam panel having atleast one side disposed substantially in the first plane; a fourth foampanel having at least one side disposed substantially in the secondplane; a second tie having one portion thereof disposed in the thirdfoam panel and a second portion thereof disposed in the fourth foampanel; a second opening disposed in the second tie, said second openingbeing approximately the same cross sectional shape as the crosssectional shape of the concrete reinforcement rod whereby the rod canpass into the second opening with little resistance in the first rotaryposition of the concrete reinforcement rod; and the concretereinforcement rod having a second rotational position within the firstand second openings wherein the reinforcement rod is in a tightfrictional fit in the first and second openings of the first and secondties for helping to hold the first and second ties and the first,second, third and fourth panels to be held in a fixed relationship withrespect to each other during a time when concrete is poured between thefirst and second and the third and fourth foam panels and therebyserving to re-enforce the concrete after the concrete has cured.
 2. Theapparatus of claim 1 comprising: a second concrete reinforcement rodhaving a longitudinal axis and having a cross sectional shape transverseto the longitudinal axis, which cross sectional shape includes at leastone diameter thereof which is larger than another diameter thereof; athird opening disposed in the first tie, said third opening beingapproximately the same cross sectional shape as the cross sectionalshape of the concrete second reinforcement rod whereby the secondreinforcement rod can pass into the third opening with little resistancein a first rotary position of the second concrete reinforcement rod; afourth opening disposed in the second tie, said fourth opening beingapproximately the same cross sectional shape as the cross sectionalshape of the second concrete reinforcement rod whereby the secondconcrete reinforcement rod can pass into the fourth opening with littleresistance in the first rotary position of the second concretereinforcement rod; and the second concrete reinforcement rod having asecond rotational position within the third and fourth openings whereinthe reinforcement rod is in a tight frictional fit in the third andfourth openings of the first and second ties for helping to hold thefirst and second ties and the first, second, third and fourth foampanels to be held in a fixed relationship with respect to each otherduring the time when concrete is poured between the first and second andthe third and fourth foam panels and thereby serving to re-enforce theconcrete after the concrete has cured.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2including means on a top portion of the first and second ties forholding at least one additional concrete reinforcement rod in alignmentbetween the first and second and third and fourth foam panels whileconcrete is being poured and to serve to re-enforce the concrete afterthe concrete has cured.
 4. The apparatus of claim 2 including at leasttwo spaced apart members extending upwardly from each one of the firstand second ties and having at least one additional concretereinforcement rod disposed between the said at least two spaced apartmembers on each of the first and second ties while concrete is beingpoured and to serve to re-enforce the concrete after the concrete hascured.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1 further having a corner sectioncomprising: a fifth foam wall having one side in substantially the sameplane as the first plane and being disposed against the first foam wall;a sixth foam wall having one side in a plane substantially transverse tothe first plane, the sixth foam wall being disposed against the one sideof the fifth foam wall; a third tie being disposed at least partially inthe fifth foam wall and having a first corner opening therein that isapproximately the same size and shape as the first opening disposed inthe first tie; a fourth tie being disposed at least partially in thesixth foam wall and having a second corner opening therein that isapproximately the same size and shape as the first opening disposed inthe first tie; a fifth tie being having a third corner opening in oneend thereof and a fourth corner opening in the other end thereof, bothof the third and fourth corner openings being approximately the samesize and shape as the first opening disposed in the first tie; a firstfastener disposed through the first corner opening in the third tie andthe third corner opening in the fifth tie; and a second fastenerdisposed through the second corner opening in the fourth tie and thefourth corner opening in the fifth tie.
 6. The apparatus of claim 5wherein the first, second, third and fourth corner openings areapproximately the same shape as the cross sectional shape of the a firstopening disposed in the first tie and wherein the first fastener has oneportion thereof with a cross sectional size and shape similar to thecross sectional shape of the first reinforcement rod, the first fastenerhaving an intermediate portion that is smaller in an intermediateportion another portion that will not fit through the openings in thefirst, second, third and fourth corner openings and whereby the oneportion of the first fastener is in abutment with one of the third,fourth and fifth ties when installed through the first, second, thirdand fourth corner openings and the another portion of the first fasteneris in abutment with one of one of the third, fourth and fifth ties wheninstalled through the first, second, third and fourth corner openings.7. The apparatus of claim 1 having a fifth foam wall having one side insubstantially the same plane as the first plane and being disposedagainst the first foam wall; a sixth foam wall having one side in aplane substantially transverse to the first plane, the sixth foam wallbeing disposed against the one side of the fifth foam wall; a third tiebeing disposed at least partially in the fifth foam wall and having afirst corner opening therein that is approximately the same size andshape as the first opening disposed in the first tie; a fourth tie beingdisposed at least partially in the sixth foam wall and having a secondcorner opening therein that is approximately the same size and shape asthe first opening disposed in the first tie; and a first fastenerdisposed through the first corner opening in the third tie and thesecond corner opening in the fourth tie.
 8. The apparatus of claim 7wherein the first and second corner openings are approximately the sameshape as the cross sectional shape of the a first opening disposed inthe first tie and wherein the first fastener has one portion thereofwith a cross sectional size and shape similar to the cross sectionalshape of the first reinforcement rod, the first fastener having anintermediate portion that is smaller in an intermediate portion anotherportion that will not fit through the openings in the first and secondcorner openings and whereby the one portion of the first fastener is inabutment with one of the third and fourth ties when installed throughthe first and second corner openings and the another portion of thefirst fastener is in abutment with one of one of the third and fourthties when installed through the first and second corner openings.
 9. Theapparatus of claim 6 further comprising: a sixth tie being disposed atleast partially in the fifth foam wall and having a fifth corner openingtherein that is approximately the same size and shape as the firstopening disposed in the first tie; a seventh tie being disposed at leastpartially in the sixth foam wall and having a sixth corner openingtherein that is approximately the same size and shape as the firstopening disposed in the first tie; and a third fastener disposed throughthe fifth corner opening in the sixth tie and the sixth corner openingin the seventh tie.
 10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the fifth andsixth corner openings are approximately the same shape as the crosssectional shape of the a first opening disposed in the first tie andwherein the third fastener has one portion thereof with a crosssectional size and shape similar to the cross sectional shape of thefirst reinforcement rod, the third fastener having an intermediateportion that is smaller in an intermediate portion another portion thatwill not fit through the openings in the fifth and sixth corner openingsand whereby the one portion of the third fastener is in abutment withone of the sixth and seventh ties when installed through the fifth andsixth corner openings and the another portion of the third fastener isin abutment with one of one of the sixth and seventh ties when installedthrough the fifth and sixth corner openings.
 11. The apparatus of claim1 further comprising: a fifth foam panel having at least one sidedisposed in a third plane substantially perpendicular to the first planeand in abutment with the first foam panel; a sixth foam panel having atleast one side disposed in a fourth plane substantially perpendicular tothe first plane and in abutment with the third foam panel; and whereinthe concrete reinforcement rod extends through the third and fourthplanes.
 12. A method of constructing a concrete form comprising: placinga first tie having one portion thereof disposed in a first foam paneland a second portion thereof disposed in a second foam panel; placingthe first foam panel having at least one side disposed substantially ina first plane; placing the second foam panel having at least one sidedisposed substantially in a second plane which is substantially parallelto the first plane; providing a concrete reinforcement rod having alongitudinal axis and having a cross sectional shape transverse to thelongitudinal axis, which cross sectional shape includes at least onediameter thereof which is larger than another diameter thereof; placinga first opening disposed in the first tie, said first opening beingapproximately the same cross sectional shape as the cross sectionalshape of the concrete reinforcement rod whereby the rod can pass intothe first opening with little resistance in a first rotary position ofthe concrete reinforcement rod; providing a second tie having oneportion thereof disposed in a third foam panel and a second portionthereof disposed in a fourth foam panel; placing the third foam panelhaving at least one side disposed substantially in the first plane;placing the fourth foam panel having at least one side disposedsubstantially in the second plane; arranging to have a second openingdisposed in the second tie, said second opening being approximately thesame cross sectional shape as the cross sectional shape of the concretereinforcement rod whereby the rod can pass into the second opening withlittle resistance in the first rotary position of the concretereinforcement rod; placing the concrete reinforcement rod into the firstand second openings of the first and second ties respectively in thefirst rotary position thereof; and rotating the concrete reinforcementrod to a second rotational position within the first and second openingswherein the reinforcement rod is in a tight frictional fit in the firstand second openings of the first and second ties for helping to hold thefirst and second ties and the first, second, third and fourth panels tobe held in a fixed relationship with respect to each other during a timewhen concrete is poured between the first and second and the third andfourth foam panels and thereby serving to re-enforce the concrete afterthe concrete has cured.
 13. The method of claim 12 wherein the rotatingof the concrete reinforcement rod from the first to the second positionthereof is done by access from above the first and second foam panels.14. The method of claim 12 wherein the placing of the concretereinforcement rod through the first and second openings is done by firstcutting an access hole cut in the side of one of the foam panels andinserting the concrete reinforcement rod through the access hole andplacing the concrete reinforcement rod into the first and secondopenings.
 15. The method of claim 14 wherein the rotating of theconcrete reinforcement rod from the first to the second position thereofis done by accessing the concrete reinforcement rod and then rotatingthe concrete reinforcement rod from the first to the second positionthereof.
 16. The method of claim 15 including blocking the hole andpouring concrete between the first, second third and fourth foam panels.17. Apparatus comprising: a dowel having a circular cross sectionalshape having a first diameter; a first tie adapted to be disposed in afirst foam panel and a second portion thereof disposed in a second foampanel; a first opening disposed in the first tie, said first openingbeing approximately the same cross sectional shape as the crosssectional shape of the whereby the dowel can pass into the first openingwith little resistance; a second tie having one portion thereof adaptedto be disposed in a third foam panel and a second portion thereofadapted to be disposed in a fourth foam panel; a second opening disposedin the second tie, said second opening being approximately the samecross sectional shape as the cross sectional shape of the dowel wherebythe dowel can pass into the second opening with little resistance; afirst resilient block having an opening therein which is of a seconddiameter which is smaller than the first diameter of the dowel wherebythe dowel can be disposed in tight frictional contact within the openingin the first resilient block to hold the first resilient block attachedto one end of the dowel; a second resilient block having an openingtherein which is of the second diameter which is smaller than the firstdiameter of the dowel whereby another end of the dowel can be disposedin tight frictional contact within the opening in the second resilientblock to hold the second resilient block attached to the other end ofthe dowel; and whereby the first and second ties are disposed betweenthe first and second resilient blocks for shipping purposes.
 18. Themethod of claim 17 wherein the first and second resilient blocks arecomprised of rubber.
 19. Apparatus comprising: a connector having alongitudinal axis and having a cross sectional shape transverse to thelongitudinal axis, which cross sectional shape includes at least onecross sectional dimension thereof which is larger than another crosssectional dimension thereof; a first foam panel having at least one sidedisposed substantially in a first plane; a second foam panel having atleast one side disposed substantially in a second plane which issubstantially parallel to the first plane; a first tie having oneportion thereof disposed in the first foam panel and a second portionthereof disposed in the second foam panel; a first opening disposed inthe first tie, said first opening being approximately the same crosssectional shape as the cross sectional shape of the connector wherebythe connector can pass into the first opening with little resistance ina first rotary position of the connector; a third foam panel having atleast one side disposed substantially in the first plane; a fourth foampanel having at least one side disposed substantially in the secondplane; a second tie having one portion thereof disposed in the thirdfoam panel and a second portion thereof disposed in the fourth foampanel; a second opening disposed in the second tie, said second openingbeing approximately the same cross sectional shape as the crosssectional shape of the connector whereby the connector can pass into thesecond opening with little resistance in the first rotary position ofthe connector; and the connector having a second rotational positionwithin the first and second openings wherein the connector is in thefirst and second openings of the first and second ties for holding thefirst and second ties and the first, second, third and fourth panels ina fixed relationship with respect to each other during a time whenconcrete is poured between the first and second and the third and fourthfoam panels and thereby also serving to re-enforce the concrete afterthe concrete has cured.
 20. A method of constructing a concrete formcomprising: placing a first tie having one portion thereof disposed in afirst foam panel and a second portion thereof disposed in a second foampanel; placing the first foam panel having at least one side disposedsubstantially in a first plane; placing the second foam panel having atleast one side disposed substantially in a second plane which issubstantially parallel to the first plane; providing a connector havinga longitudinal axis and having a cross sectional shape transverse to thelongitudinal axis, which cross sectional shape includes at least onecross sectional dimension thereof which is larger than another crosssectional dimension thereof; placing a first opening disposed in thefirst tie, said first opening being large enough whereby the connectorcan pass into the first opening with little resistance in a first rotaryposition of the connector; providing a second tie having one portionthereof disposed in a third foam panel and a second portion thereofdisposed in a fourth foam panel; placing the third foam panel having atleast one side disposed substantially in the first plane; placing thefourth foam panel having at least one side disposed substantially in thesecond plane; arranging to have a second opening disposed in the secondtie, said second opening being approximately the same cross sectionalshape as the first opening whereby the connector can pass into thesecond opening with little resistance in the first rotary position ofthe connector; placing the connector into the first and second openingsof the first and second ties respectively in the first rotary positionthereof; and rotating the connector to a second rotational positionwithin the first and second openings wherein the connector is in thefirst and second openings of the first and second ties for holding thefirst and second ties and the first, second, third and fourth panels tobe held in a fixed relationship with respect to each other during a timewhen concrete is poured between the first and second and the third andfourth foam panels and thereby serving to re-enforce the concrete afterthe concrete has cured.